Taken
by Evil intent
Summary: While on a routine mission the Avengers are kidnapped(minus Tony) by Tony's enemy, Justin Hammer. Tony is given a choice, Tony in exchange for his team. while captured, Tony's memories are projected for his team to see. there will be references to child abuse and hurt Tony and Avengers. Not slash
1. Chapter 1

So this is just an idea that popped into my head. I'm really sorry CBloom2 for not posting the addition to Black and Blue. I've been really busy with swim because we were just at our biggest competition of the year. I'm sorry again and I promise I am working on it. I've just been having a hard time getting back into the storyline. As for those of you who said my writing was sloppy: I am now trying to write on a computer and trying to clean it up a little. Thank you for reviewing and I hope you find this easier to read. Also, I just recently got into the Avengers and when I was looking things up, I couldn't tell whether Jarvis is called an AL or an AI. So please don't hate me if I get it wrong. I'm going to call him an AI. if any of you would like to tell me which one is correct- I will love you forever. So please don't think I'm stupid. Anyway, onto this story, this is just a little scene I thought of. I hope you enjoy and please, please, please review. I love to know you enjoyed it. And even if you didn't like it I would like to know why. I'll stop talking now and let you read. EnjoyJ

Disclaimer: I do not own the Avengers (unfortunately). If you recognize it, it's not mine.

 _"It was just supposed to be a normal day."_ Tony thought to himself as he flew back to his tower. _"How did this happen? Why didn't they take me too? Who are they?"_ More questions filled his mind as he grew closer to the landing platform. "Jarvis!" he barked out as he landed, "Where the hell is my team?"

 **30 minutes earlier;**

"Tony duck!" Cap shouted through their coms as he threw his shield at the robot.

"Little busy Cap!" Came Tony's reply as he blasted his way through one of the metal giants, ducking to avoid Steve's shield as it whizzed over his head. "Watch where you're throwing your Frisbee!"

"Tony, shut up!" Widow shouted, jumping into the conversation. "Some of us are actually trying to concentrate!" she started to speak again, but was interrupted by a mechanical arm swiping her feet out from under her. She returned the favor by shooting it in the face as Clint was putting an arrow in its back. "I had it!" she yelled at him.

"Yeah I see that." Came his snarky reply. "Next time you can shoot mine!" He quickly became serious though as he noticed the floating sphere coming towards them. "Hey, do you guys see that?"

"See what, Bird-brain?" Tony snapped, clearly annoyed his robot-killing work was being interrupted.

"Uhh, that!" Steve shouted, pointing at the steadily growing closer ball.

"Probably a SHIELD drone." Natasha assured, "You know they like to monitor us."

"I don't think so Widow!" Steve yelled over the roar. He was becoming incressingly worried. _"What is this thing doing here?"_ He thought.

Hulk, however, grinned gleefully, "Silvery ball means more things to smash!" He leapt at the floating object, smacking it to the ground.

"Hulk, no!" Steve and Tony yelled simultaneously.

"You don't know what that does!" Tony continued, "It could be radioactive, or poisonous, or- " His ranting was cut short when the sphere exploded. Or, kind of exploded. Light burst out of the mechanism, enclosing the heroes and monsters alike. Through the blinding flash Tony could make out the robots dissolving as the light went through them. _"Maybe it is good."_ He thought briefly. The light continued to grow brighter, so much so it hurt to look at it. Dizziness started to wash over Tony, and he collapsed.

"Tony-" He heard Steve start to say.

"Aww, he's worried." Tony thought, and then the darkness overtook him. A few minutes later he awoke. "Ohh." He groaned, trying to sit up. He could hear his blood pounding in his ears, and _damn_ , his head hurt. Immediately, he looked around for the rest of his team, and found no one. "God damn it." He swore under his breath. "Jarvis, what the hell happened?" "I..shut…down..conserve…batter-" came the broken voice of his AI. "Shit!" Tony swore again. He struggled to his feet and tried to start his suit. No such luck. Jarvis was right when he said the suit was low on battery. It took two or three tries until the red and gold masterpiece sputtered to life. "This is going to be uncomfortable." He thought. Bracing himself, he took off.

 **Back to the present**

So sorry it's so short. It's late and I need some sleep. I was up all night trying to work on my Blue Bloods fic. Please review, reviews make me want to write more!


	2. Chapter 2

Thank you so much everyone who favored and is following this story! I really hope you enjoy this next chapter. I am going to try to post a chapter everyday or every other day. Please reviewJ

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or its characters. If it's recognizable, it's not mine.

 **Steve's POV**

"What the…" Steve groaned as he sat up slowly. "Everyone okay?" he asked, waiting for various responses came back.

"Fine!" Hawkeye snapped, then under his breath, "Except for the monster headache from hell."

"Good!" Black Widow yelled back. Glancing at the still **unconscious scientist she added, "So is Banner!"**

 **"** **Passive scientist or enormous green rage monster?" Clint questioned.**

 **"** **Scientist." Bruce assured as he climbed to his feet. "Anyone hurt?"**

 **"** **All good." Steve said, making his way towards the others. "Anyone know where we are?"**

 **"** **A cage?" Hawkeye offered up.**

 **"** **Yes Clint." Natasha snapped impatiently, "We all know we're in a cage."**

 **"** **Well you asked!" Hawkeye said indignantly, clearly growing annoyed over being questioned.**

 **"** **Well maybe if you-" Natasha's comment was cut off by Steve pushing them apart.**

 **"** **We have bigger problems." He snapped, his voice quickly becoming commanding.**

 **"** **Like what?" Hawkeye returned in an equally sharp tone. "We've been kidnapped and stuffed in a big dog cage? I noticed."**

 **"** **No." Bruce stated calmly, "Tony's missing."**

 **Tony's POV**

 ** _"_** ** _They're all missing."_** Tony thought as he paced around his massive living room. _"How are they all missing? How the hell do you lose two assassins, the Jolly Green Giant, and Captain freaking America at the same time? Unless they're kidnapped… but why didn't they take me?"_ "Shit!" he burst out, "They were targeted. Jarvis- compile a list of all our enemies."

 ****"I could do that sir…" his AI started, "but wouldn't it be easier just to track the signal emitted from the orb back to where it currently is?"

"You can do that?" Tony asked skeptically.

"Yes sir, would you like me to call Ms. Potts while I'm at it as well?" Jarvis added.

"No Jarvis, she's busy with that board meeting in Japan." Tony replied.

"But wouldn't she like to know what is happening?" Jarvis questioned.  
" _No_ , Jarvis." Tony emphasized.

"As you wish sir." The AI answered, and Tony wasn't sure, but he thought he heard a note of annoyance in its voice, as if Jarvis was saying, "Whatever, your funeral when she finds out what's going on."

Tony rolled his eyes, _"Programmed that thing too damn well."_ He thought. As he was waiting for his AI to finish tracing the signal his thoughts began to consume him. _"Who took them, Loki? No, that can't be right- he's in Asgard. Are they trying to punish me or them? All of us? Why only take five of us? Do they need a specific number? Maybe they want to play us against each other and need someone on the outside to-"_

Jarvis broke into his thoughts, "Sir I have tracked the signal back to this warehouse." The wall in front of him lit up with an image of a large grey building. "I am sending the coordinates to your suit now sir." Jarvis continued. "Now would you like me to phone Ms. Potts?"

"No, Jarvis." Tony snapped again, "I have to get my team."

 **Steve's POV**

"Where's Stark?" Steve questioned. "Did anyone have eyes on him when that ball lit up?"

"No, maybe he was taken somewhere else?" Widow offered.

"Or maybe he wasn't taken at all." Clint stated darkly.

"What's that supposed to mean?" Bruce said, standing up in front of him.

"Well no one else thinks it's weird that we all get kidnapped and he's nowhere to be found?" Clint continued, looking around the room for support. Natasha nodded in his direction, while Steve and Bruce looked at him like he was crazy.

"Come on Clint, you can't possibly think that this is Tony's fault?" Steve asked him carefully. "That's ridiculous."

"He's got a point." Natasha added quietly.

"What?" Bruce said turning towards her.

"He's got a point." She said again, louder, nodding at Hawkeye. "I mean, why isn't he here?"

"Come on guys," Steve said, sounding exasperated. "You can't seriously think this is because of Tony!"

"Unfortunately," a cruel voice said as the barred door swung open, "It is."

So that's part of the second chapter I know it's really short so I'm sorry. I just felt like that was a good place to leave it. The next part might be up later tonight. So please review. I'm sorry about the indentation problem; my computer's a little weird. Hopefully the problem will be fixed by the time I get the next part of this up. Please, please, please review!


	3. Chapter 3

I am so, so, so, sooooooooo sorry for not posting this sooner. I have been so busy and my computer was really messed up and I had to get it fixed. On that note- I give all of you permission to yell at me if you want. Anyway, this is a little more of Taken. I hope you enjoyJ

Disclaimer; I do not own The Avengers or its characters. If you recognize it, it's not mine.

 **Steve's** POV:

"Come on guys," Steve said, sounding exasperated. "You can't seriously think this is because of Tony!"

"Unfortunately," a cruel voice said as the barred door swung open, "It is."

"What do you mean it's Tony's fault?" Steve demanded, "He's not even here!"

"Not yet." The voice chuckled evilly from the shadows. "But he will be."

"What are you talking about?" Natasha demanded. "Where the hell is Stark!"

"Probably on his way flying here." The mysterious voice stated. "Don't worry though. You sorry bastards will all be going home quite soon. You're simply leverage, it's Tony we want- couldn't care less about you." He gave a short, harsh laugh before allowing the heavy door to slam behind him.

" _Leverage_?! Why the hell are we leverage?!" Clint roared angrily.

"He wants Tony for something, probably personal revenge. They most likely took us first to psychologically torture Tony. Something along the lines of , 'Come here and turn yourself in or we kill all your friends.' And Tony took the bait. I mean- you heard the man, Tony's on his way here now. He's going to come and probably get himself killed to protect us." Bruce stated sadly, the exclaiming, "And I didn't see it, stupid!"

"It's not your fault." Natasha assured, trying to calm the scientist. "It is because of whoever is on the other side of that door. Not us, not Tony, just them. And maybe Hawkeye."

"Hey!" Hawkeye yelled, "What' do you mean it's my fault?"

"I'm kidding Clint." She said, suppressing her laughter, "I just wanted to lighten the mood."

"Hahaha, very funny." Clint grumbled, "Blame your partner for getting your other partner stuck in a death trap, while you're in a death trap."

Steve had had enough of the pointless bickering. "Alright!" he yelled, "everyone settle down. No one's dying- and that _includes_ Tony." He added, pointedly looking at Hawkeye.

"And how do you suppose we go about this 'not dying'?" Clint shot back.

"Well for starters, we shut up. Then we get the hell out of here. _Before_ Tony gets here." Cap said sharply.

They continued arguing inaudibly as Natasha turned to Bruce and said, "So much for not bickering."

Amused, Bruce looked back at her, "Yeah. They're worse then Tony."

"Well then," a voice spoke from the ceiling, "if my annoying charm isn't needed I guess I'll go home."

"Tony!" Steve gasped, his head shooting towards the ceiling to spot Tony as the others followed in suit. "Does anyone see him?"

Moments of silence followed Captain America's question as the four pairs of eyes searched through the darkness. The quiet was finally broken when Black Widow called out, "There!" Her hand rose to point towards a small flat circle embedded in the ceiling. A speaker.

Crackling to life, Tony's voice, again, came pouring out of it. "Did you guys miss me? I mean, it's only been, like, seven hours, but that's seven hours without your favorite genius, billionaire, playboy, philanthropist. So I can understand if you are."

Steve groaned. This was so not what he needed right now. Although, admittedly, the genius part might be useful right about now. "Tony what the hell's going on?" he yelled toward the speaker.

"I figured that was pretty obvious Capsicle!" Came Tony's snarky response. "We're trading places!"

"Why are you doing this Tony?" Bruce yelled, "Whoever this is is probably going to kill you."

"Or you!" Tony responded, clearly trying to hide the 'death for him' part of their conversation. "Give me a second, I'm going to come down, easier to talk that way." A minute or so later the door swung open and a slightly beaten Tony entered.

"Oh my God Tony!" Steve started, "What the hell happened to you?"

"I got here about an hour ago." Tony snapped impatiently, "Put two and two together."

Steve shook his head. _"Why can't he ever actually be serious?"_ he wondered. The out loud said, "What are you doing here? We could've gotten out without your help."

"Yeah I see that." Tony started. "It's very obvious you could have gotten out of here because you're **still in here**."

Clint simply rolled his eyes. _"Bickering like children. Steve and I weren't that bad."_ He thought before snapping back to the conversation.

"Why do you always have to talk like that?" Steve practically yelled.

"Because this is how I talk." Tony said lamely.

"Not your tone you idiot, you always guard your feelings, act like a stuck up rich boy who doesn't care." The Captain continued.

"Two problems with your logic there Cap." Tony started. "One; I'm not an idiot. I have four PhD's. Two, if I didn't care- why would I be here saving your asses? Ask yourself that."

"Because you do care." Natasha butted in. "Now answer his question Stark, why are you here? What was the deal?"

"The deal was; I come, alone, and you get released. It was pretty simple. Iron Man for the rest of the Avengers. Now I don't do that much shopping, but a four for one deal sounded pretty damn good." Tony answered.

Clint smirked at him. "And what did you expect them to do to you? Or did you not think that far ahead?"

"Actually I did." Stark started. "I just don't really feel like telling you at this particular moment in time."

"Clint showed him another smirk. "Of course you don't."

A harsh knock came at the door, closely followed by an equally harsh voice telling them, "We're coming in. back away from the door and keep your hands in the air." Light came flooding in as the four men entered the large room, each sporting a large machine gun. "All of you turn around and place your hands behind your back."

Before any of the Avengers had time to oblige, Tony spoke up. "No, the deal was that if I came they would be released- _unharmed_." He put extra emphasis on the last word as he caught one of the guards shoving Bruce out of the corner of his eye. The biggest guard looked pointedly at the guard to his left and they changed places, so the larger one was directly in front of Tony. "The deal's changed." He spat at him, as he raised his gun, and fired.

Alright; so while I was writing this I had an idea to turn this into a fic where Tony's memories are broadcasted so all the Avengers could see them. I wanted to switch from physical whump for Tony to mental. Hahaha (chuckles evilly) in my version Tony is not what he seams and he is smiling so no one looks deeper and discovers what he is hiding. There will be references to child abuse. Additionally, (sorry I know I'm taking forever) I realized I completely forgot about Thor for this entire thing. So I'm just going to write it into the next chapter that he is in Asgard. Anyway I really hope you enjoyed this chapter and please, please, please, please a thousand more please's review. Reviews keep me writing. I'll try to update in the next few days (hopefully tomorrow)


	4. Chapter 4

So I just want to thank; Sara Snow, Ravynne Queen, rileyraph'sgirl, MiniWinchester, Sapphire131, and MarvelLuver for taking the time to review my story. Also a big thank you to all who favored and are following this story. I don't want to waste your time so let's start messing with Tony's memoriesJ

Disclaimer; I do not own The Avengers or its characters. If you recognize it it's not mine.

 **Steve POV:**

"Tony!" Steve gasped as he watched his friend topple to the ground.

"I'm fine." Came the disgruntled reply, "just need to…catch my breath."

Bruce gave him a strange look, but said nothing as the guards readied their weapons once more. "Get moving!" one snapped, pressing his gun deeper into Clint's chest. The look he received was absolutely murderous, though Clint refrained from killing him. Possibly because he knew he was hopelessly outnumbered, and would be most likely killed if he tried to pick a fight. The guards stiffly ushered them out of the cage and down a hallway. Steve could see the two ex-assassins creating mental maps in their heads, in hopes of escape, while Tony was counting the number of guards and rooms. He sighed inwardly, _"What the hell is happening?"_ Steve wondered, _"Where are they taking us?"_ His questions were quickly halted, however, when they came to a sudden stop, before being roughly thrown into a slightly colder concrete room. _"What have we gotten ourselves into?"_ He was contemplating trying to fight their way out, when Bruce approached him quietly. "Tony needs help." He whispered.

 **Tony POV:**

 _"Shit that hurts!"_ Tony screamed inside his head, then said out loud; "I'm fine." He took a shuddering breath, desperately trying to suck air into his suddenly empty lungs and added, "just need to… catch my breath." A quick glance at his chest told him everything he needed to know. The gun hadn't had bullets in it (obviously) and his Arc Reactor was suddenly not lit up, which could only mean one thing- the gun had fired off an EMP, or Electro Magnetic Pulse. This EMP had shut off his Arc Reactor, meaning he had about two hours to live before the shrapnel killed him. Another quick glance in Bruce's direction told him he knew what had happened too. _"Not good."_ As the soldiers marched them on, Tony could feel the effects of the shrapnel more and more. His chest hurt like hell, and it was becoming harder and more uncomfortable to breathe. His lungs were starting to feel wet, with what Tony could only assume was his own blood. He decided to instead focus on the guards and room numbers. Maybe if he could figure out some kind of algorithm he could designate the best escape route. He continued to walk, even though his body screamed for rest. Until, at last, they reached their designation- a small, cold, concrete cell. _"Perfect_." He thought, _"Just what I need."_

 **Bruce POV:**

He watched silently as the soldier raised his gun and fired into Tony's chest. Immediately, Bruce knew what had happened, the gun had fired an EMP blast into his chest- rendering his Arc Reactor useless. Bruce knew that meant Tony had two hours to live, at most. He caught Tony glance at him out of the corner of his eye and knew Tony had read the grim look on his face perfectly. Bruce also knew that Tony wasn't going to tell anyone that he was dying, and that it was now up to Bruce to save him. _"Stubborn idiot!"_ he thought, _"Why does he have to be so stupid?"_ Knowing full well that they probably wouldn't escape before Tony's time was up, he contemplated telling Steve. Maybe he would be able to get a hold of one of their guns; with it Bruce would be able to reverse the effects on the Arc Reactor. Before he had to find a way to get past the soldiers to the front where Steve was, they stopped, and were quickly marched into another room. The guards shoved them through the door, and slammed it behind them. Bruce peered through the dark, searching for the super soldier, finally he found his mark. Bruce snuck up behind him and whispered, "Tony needs help."

 **Steve POV:**

"Tony needs help." Bruce whispered.

Steve whipped his head around, "What do you mean? Is he hurt?"

The scientist put up a hand to slow him, "He'll be alright for…" he looked down to check his watch, "one hour and forty-three minutes. Then he'll die."

He said it with such a straight face, Steve could barely believe him. "What do you mean, he seems fine." Steve asked.

"Did you see when the guard fired at his chest?' Bruce asked.

"Yeah." Steve replied, "But when nothing happened I figured it was just a scare tactic."

"It wasn't." Bruce said solemnly, "The gun fired off an EMP, or Electro Magnetic Pulse. This pulse disrupted the current Tony's Arc Reactor uses to keep him alive. In more simple terms, the gun shut off his Arc Reactor, the shrapnel will reach his heart in, one hour and-" another check of his watch, "forty-one minutes."

"So that's it?" Steve asked, "We can't do anything?"

"Unless we get a hold of one of those guns, there's nothing we can do." Bruce agreed sadly. "Either we have to get a gun to reverse the polarity, or they have to shoot him."

"Why hasn't he told us?" Steve wondered out loud.

"When does he tell you about anything?" Bruce scoffed quietly.

"What?" Steve asked sharply. "What's that supposed to mean?"

"Nothing." Bruce replied shaking his head, "Never mind."

"No, tell me- what the hell is that supposed to mean?" Steve whispered angrily, he was growing frustrated. _"Why can't he just tell me?"_ he thought, _"What's going on with Tony?"_

"No okay? Just, just no." Bruce said, equally frustrated, as he walked away.

 **Bruce POV:**

 _"That's Tony's stuff to tell, not mine."_ he thought as he stalked away. _"Why can't he understand that?"_ he was about to walk over to Tony to demand that he told the rest of team so they could come up with a way to fix it, but he didn't get a chance. The door swung open as he was about to reach Tony, and the other four Avengers sprang to their feet.

"What the hell's going on?" Clint shouted angrily as he jumped up.

The six men didn't reply, and instead one simply raised their gun and, once again, fired at Tony. He doubled over with a cry of pain and as much as Bruce hated them hurting his friend, he couldn't hold back the sigh of relief that passed through his lips. His Arc Reactor was up and working again. Steve started towards Tony to try to help him, but one of the men shoved his gun in Steve's face. "Back away." He growled. Steve slowly obliged.

"Thanks." Tony gasped sarcastically as he stood back up. "I'm fine." He told his friends.

"Great." The man in the doorway said, clapping his hands together. "Let's go."

"Hold up." Tony shot back, regaining his composure. "I'm not going anywhere with you until you hold up your end of the deal."

"Which was?" the man asked with false innocence.

"You let them go you lying bastard." Tony nearly shouted.

"No need to be rude." The man said stepping into the light, "Long time no see."

"Justin Hammer." Tony smirked, "Come to get embarrassed again?"

"As I remember it, my tech was better than yours." Hammer replied.

"Then I guess you remember wrong." Tony snapped, "Because my suit beat yours."

"We'll see about that." Hammer stated. "Let's go." He motioned to one of the guards, who stashed is weapon and pulled out a bigger, much more real gun. _"Now!"_

Tony simply stood there, staring down the barrel of a gun, "No."

"What-what the hell do you mean no?" Hammer asked, "I have a gun!"

"And I don't care." Tony stated, "We had a deal, now either you let them go, or I walk."

"You'd really just leave them here?" Hammer questioned.

"You'd really let me walk?" Tony countered.

Justin laughed, "Nope. But I'd do this." He nodded at the guard with his gun trained on Tony, and he flipped it around, and smashed it into his temple.

"Tony!" Bruce yelled as he watched his friend crash the ground for a third time.

Steve turned his attention towards Justin, "What the hell is wrong with you? He's trying to help us!"

"I don't want him to help you." Hammer replied simply. He turned to the guard that hit Tony, "Come on, let's go." The guard grabbed Tony roughly by his arm and yanked him to his feet.

"Let's go." He growled roughly as he pulled him closer to the door.

Tony looked back and saw Natasha first, **"Get them out!"** he mouthed. She gave him a curt nod as he was pulled out the door.

Natasha turned to the stunned Avengers, "Come on." She whispered, "We have to find a way out."

"No." Clint said, standing up. It was the first thing he'd said since they were taken to the second room. "We're not leaving without him."

Natasha turned to face him, "Did I say we were?"

"Well-well I mean," Clint started, "You didn't say you weren't."

"We're not any good to him while we're still in here." She specified, "We get out, _then_ find Tony. Okay?"

Clint nodded, "Okay."

They turned to the rest of their team, "What's the plan?" Steve asked.

"I figured you had one." Clint said.

"Yes, Clint. In the two minutes I had while you and Widow were talking I came up with a foolproof plan two break five people out of one of the most secure compounds in the world." Steve answered sarcastically.

"Well I didn't know!" Clint argued, "You've done it before!"

Steve rolled his eyes, "When? When have I done this before?"

Before Clint could respond, Natasha broke in. "Guys, the plan?"

"Well we could…" Steve started.

"If we just…" Clint continued.

"Or we could just break out through the door." Bruce stated obviously.

Natasha pointed to him, "Hey guys? Guys?" she tried to get the attention of the two arguing heroes who were growing increasingly louder. "Hey- **Shut up**!" she yelled finally. Clint and Steve turned to look at her, surprised. She sighed, "Listen to Bruce." The three of them turned to where the scientist was standing moments ago.

"Where the hell did he go?" Clint asked.

"Over here!" Bruce yelled from the doorway. Three heads whipped around to look at the scientist, and gapped at what they saw. Bruce had two gun men, one on either side of him, both pressing guns into his head. "You know," he started, "two guns are really unnecessary, one bullet is enough to kill someone."

The guards ignored him, "Come on," the guard said, "Stark's ready, Hammer wants you." The other guard approached the Avengers, his gun trained on Natasha " _All_ of you."

They lead the reluctant superheroes through a door in the back of the room they hadn't even noticed before.

"Where are we going?" Steve demanded, "What do you mean Tony's ready?" he had about a hundred more questions, but was cut off by the door slamming in their faces. This room was very different from the others they had been in. instead of being cold and dark this new room and brightly lit, and warm. One of the walls had a large piece of fabric stretched across it, almost like a screen. In front of it was four chairs, all made of metal. "What is this place?" Bruce asked aloud. "It almost looks like… a theatre?"

"I think it is." Natasha clarified, "Why?"

"Maybe he wants to show us his inventions." Clint laughed, "Show up Tony."

"This isn't a joke, Hawkeye." Steve said. "Tony could be in real trouble."

"Or we are." Natasha said as Hammer and two other men entered the room.

"Have a seat," Hammer said, "The show's about to begin."

Thank you for reading and please review! I hope you enjoyed it and I promise there will be some Tony memories in the next chapter. Reviews make me smileJ


	5. Chapter 5

Before I start I want to thank MarvelLuver for bringing up the plot holes in my story. I will diffidently try to fill those in this chapter. Thank you everyone who is following this story and has reviewed. I really hope you enjoy this and I am able to clear up anything you had questions about.

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or its characters. If you recognize it it's not mine.

 **Natasha POV:**

"Have a seat," Hammer said, "The show's about to begin."

"What show?" Steve yelled after him as he slammed the door behind him.

"Guys, we need to get out of here, now." Natasha said forcefully, "Bruce- can you Hulk out or something?"

He sighed, "Don't you think if I could I would have?"

"What do you mean; you can't change into the Other Guy?" Steve asked with concern, "What happened?"

"I don't know." Bruce started, "I tried to change when we first woke up, but I couldn't. I think Hammer gave me something when we were knocked out. What about you guys, I mean you're a Super Soldier- can't you bust the door down?"

Steve shook his head, "I can't, the doors are made of some kind of reinforced metal, too hard to break down. As for Clint and Natasha, we're out manned and outgunned. Plus, they still have Tony. Anything we do, they'll kill him for it."

By the time he was finished talking both the assassins were nodding their heads. "We're at a stalemate. We can't do anything." Natasha said sadly. "We just have to wait for an opportunity."

"Okay," Clint started, "we're trapped, glad we got that cleared up. Now back to the task at hand, what the hell did he mean by 'the show's about to begin'?"

"I don't know." Steve said, "Maybe he's going to show us his inventions, or his plan?"

"Yeah, what is his plan?" Clint asked.

"Destroy us?" Bruce offered up. "Kill Tony?"

"Okay neither of those sounds good." Steve said. "How about we come up with a third option, preferably one where we escape."

"We would have to wait until they're most vulnerable." Natasha stated, "Does anyone know what time it is?"

All three of them shook their heads. "We could charge them the next time they inter the room." Clint said. "There's only four of them."

"And then we'll get shot by the twenty other men standing behind them." Natasha said, "Great plan."

Clint rolled his eyes, "Well what do you expect when we're locked in a movie theater?" he asked, "We could-" he was cut off by the lights flickering, "What the hell was that?"

"The lights dumbass." Natasha snapped. "Now what's the plan?"

"Turn the lights back on?" Bruce asked as the room turned pitch black.

"Ladies and Gentlemen," a mocking voice burst through the speakers, "please take you seats."

Bruce could tell no one was complying because a couple seconds later the voice broke through again.

"Now!" the man shouted. Reluctantly, the four Avengers made their way through the dark into the chairs. "Perfect." He said, "Let's get started."

The screen began to light up, showing whirling colors rapidly evolving into shapes, the pictures. Flashes of faces and events; Pepper flipping through papers, Fury directing a meeting, Steve throwing his shield, Bruce in his lab, Clint firing an arrow, Thor controlling lightning, and Natasha shooting something in the background. The scenes were odd, almost distorted- moving like they were looking through someone else's eyes.

"What is this?" Steve whispered, eyes transfixed on the screen.

"This," the cold voice started, "my dear Avengers, is a little clip from a movie I like to call: The Great Memories of Tony Stark."

"What?" Natasha questioned, "That's not possible."

"Ask the scientist then." The man said, "He's sitting right there."

With the glow of the screen Bruce could make out his friends turn to him, expecting answers. "Um," he started, "hypothetically, it's possible. You would have to tap into someone's subconscious and find a way to project their thoughts."

"Could they have done it?" Steve pressed.

Bruce hesitated, choosing his words carefully. "Yes." He stated simply.

"You heard the man!" the voice said through the speaker, "Roll the tape!"

Four heads turned back to the screen as a new picture came up. They were clearly seeing through Tony's eyes, as they were looking at a celling covered with little star stickers. Their view shifted as Tony stood up and faced a mirror. The face they saw looking back was a cute little boy, about six, with freckles and messy dark brown hair. Natasha smiled at the sight of the cute boy in front of her, but sobered up quickly when the view turned down to his hands, one of which was wrapped in bandages and from what she could see, very burned. Tony looked at the red clock next to his bed: 5:30. _"Why so early?"_ Natasha thought, before directing her attention back to the video. She watched as the young boy quietly made his way down a long flight of stairs, and into a large room filled with machinery. He slowly walked over to a table filled with pens, pencils, rulers, and different types of paper. Tony selected an assortment of pens and pencils, a ruler and protractor, and a few large sheets of graph paper. Then he tip-toed to a cleared area in the corner, sat down and began drawing. The Avengers watched as large scale drawings appeared before their eyes. Schematics of armor and robotic devices slowly unfolded. Tony was in the middle of sketching something that looked suspiciously like his Iron Man suit when a dark shadow appeared over him. Tony's head snapped up and he was on his feet faster than anyone had thought possible.

"What are you doing?" the man spoke.

"Howard." Steve whispered quietly.

"No-nothing sir." Tony said quietly. The heroes could hear he was scared. His gaze shifted downward and they could see him push the blueprints behind him with his foot.

"What are those?" Howard asked sternly.

"They're nothing." Tony answered.

"Don't lie to me boy." Howard said stepping forward. His friends could see Tony flinch as his father grew closer.

"I-I didn't sir," the young Tony started, "they're just sketches."

"Sketches my ass." Clint snorted, "Those belong in a museum." Natasha elbowed him in the stomach, "Ow!"

Howard bent to the ground and snatched the blueprints up. "You drew these?" He asked.

 _"Is he going to praise him?"_ Natasha asked mentally, but she knew his tone said otherwise.

"Um, yes?" Tony said timidly.

"Yes, sir!" Howard corrected sharply.

"Yes, sir." Tony mimicked, "I drew them."

"With my paper?" Howard asked. The question was phrased innocently enough, but Natasha knew there was his tone was dangerous. He was daring Tony to respond.

"Yes sir." Tony answered, stronger this time. No one on the team anticipated what was to happen next. Out of nowhere, a hand came flying into view. It was as if a camera had been knocked off a table as Tony toppled to the floor.

"How many times have I told you not to use my things?!" Howard spat at him, "You are a disobedient child, and you deserve to be punished!"

He held the drawings in front of his face, and ripped them in half. He allowed the pieces to fall next to his son as he turned and stalked away. The team watched, shocked, as Tony ran out of the room, up the stairs, and into his bedroom where he slammed the door and lay on his bed. They listened to him cry for a few minutes, too stunned to speak, before he stood up and walked over to his mirror. The face looking back was completely different than the one from before. His face was red and tear streaked. A small dribble of blood ran from the corner of his mouth, where Howard slapped him. He raised his hand to his face to wipe away the blood.

"Why do you always mess up?" he muttered, "Why are you so stupid?" he continued whispering to himself as the screen faded to black and the audio disappeared. The lights slowly came back on, and Natasha looked around the room and took in the stunned faces.

"Oh…my God." Was all Clint could manage.

"That, that was _not_ the Howard Stark I knew." Steve said in disbelief.

"It was the one Tony knew." Bruce whispered.

"What was that?" Steve asked, turning to face him.

"That's what Tony knew." Bruce stated simply.

"Did you know about this?" Clint asked, turning to face him as well.

"He um, he told me a little." Bruce said. "It's his stuff to tell, not mine."

"Does this continue?" Steve asked frightfully.

"Yeah." Bruce said sadly. "Up until he dies."

"What about Maria, or-or…" Steve stumbles

"She was too scared." Bruce said.

"But, how could he treat him like that, that's his son, he's a kid!" Clint cried.

"Guys, stop." Natasha said, stepping in front of the scientist. "You're upsetting him."

"Sorry." Steve said quietly. "This is just hard. That's not the man I knew."

"I know." Bruce said, "It's not the worst of it anyway."

"Oh God." Clint said, rubbing his temples, "It gets worse?"

Bruce gave a dry chuckle, "Yeah." Right as he confirmed it, the screen started up again.

Tony was standing in the mirror again, this time fixing his tie. He was about eight, and wearing a suit and glasses he looked more professional. He glanced down at his watch, 5:34PM.

"Crap!" He whispered, "I'm going to be late!" he grabbed his jacket off the back of a chair and took off down the stairs. He rushed out the door, and came to a dead stop. Parked in front of him was a limousine with the driver leaned against it. The second he saw Tony he jumped to attention, pulling open the door for him.

"Where's my dad?" Tony asked. He looked around briefly, as if he was standing off in the shadows.

"Sorry sir," the driver said, "he told me to tell you that he can't make it tonight, and he's very sorry." The chuffer said, motioning for the young Tony to get in.

"Sure he is." Tony mumbled. "My first science fair and he can't even come. Too busy looking for him, _again_!"

"Sorry sir." The driver said as he closed the door. Tony stared ahead, not saying anything.

His silence, however, was broken by a voice crackling over the intercom. Coming in odd bursts, it said, "Where is the…stupid…can't find… thoughts…"

"What?" Clint whispered loudly. "I just, what?"

"Bruce was about to say something when audio came back on the screen. It sounded odd though, distorted. "Why can't he ever make time for me?" Tony said, "He's too busy looking for that stupid guy. Probably wants _him_ for a son." It took Bruce a minute to figure out why the sound was distorted.

"It's his memories!" he burst out, "We're listening to his thoughts!"

"Shush!" Clint whispered angrily. And thankfully, Bruce obliged.

"The chuffer's voice came through the glass separating them, "We've arrived sir."

"Thank you." Tony said politely, and in his head. "Why can't he ever just be there, just once, that's all I want." He made his way into the building, looking up; allowing his future team to see it was a school.

As he walked in, they heard a woman frantically calling, "Tony, Tony Stark? You're on stage in five minutes! Has anyone seen Tony?"

"I'm here Ms. Stone!" Tony called out, "Over here!"

A frail woman approached him, "Come on than, you're up in five." He allowed the old woman to lead him through the halls, to what was presumably a backstage room. "Your project is over there." She said, motioning to a cart covered with a sheet.

"Thanks." He said breathlessly. She nodded and left. He approached the cart cautiously, taking deep breaths to steady himself.

"Up next," a voice from on stage called, "Anthony Stark!"

"He took a deep breath as the grabbed the handles of the cart, "You can do this." he whispered. He pushed the cart forward and stepped through the curtains.

"Now presenting," the announcer said, "Anthony Stark and his robot!" he handed the microphone to the young boy. "Good luck." He whispered.

"Hello," Tony started, "my name is Tony Stark, and for my science project I created a voice activated robot." He pulled the sheet off the cart and revealed a large piece of machinery. "This is the Turbo 2000." He said, "It can follow simple commands such as, how to move, pick things up, and climb stairs. It is also fully waterproof." He demonstrated this by picking up the bottle of water left in the cart, and pouring it over the robot. He then continued to pick the robot up off the cart and place it on the floor. "It is voice activated," he stated loudly, "Start. It can also follow directions; move forward." The bot obliged, "Turn left." Again, the robot understood. Tony realized it was growing too close to the edge of the stage, "Stop!" he shouted. Much to his relief, and those in the front row, the robot listened, and stopped cold in its tracks. He breathed a sigh of relief, "Thank you very much, have a good night!" he shouted as he scooped up the bot and headed off stage.

"Okay," the announcer called, "Let's hear it for our last contestant in Elmwood Grove's Annual Science Fair!" cheers followed the young Tony as he walked off the stage. "Give us a few minutes, and we'll announce the winners!" He added.

Ms. Stone was waiting as Tony stepped off the stage. "That was brilliant!" she praised, "Did you come up with that all by yourself?"

"Yes ma'am." Tony said happily, obviously very pleased with himself.

"I'm sure your dad must be very proud of you." She said.

His face fell, "He, uh, he couldn't make it."

"Oh." She said quietly, "your mom then."

"She…didn't come either." Tony said sadly.

"Well they will be very proud when you get home." She assured.

"Yeah." Tony said brightly, and in his head, "Yeah, I'm sure he'll be really pleased when he's yelling at me that it wasn't good enough, or that I shouldn't have bothered him because he's so busy." But instead of saying that, he just smiled and said, "I better get up there."

She nodded at him, "Good luck!"

"Thanks!" he called back. He arrived just in time, as they were calling the first, second, and third place winners.

"And third place goes to," the announcer said, "Michael Williams!" a short boy climbed up onto the stage and ran to collect his prize. Once he was off to the side, he man called the second place winner, "And second place goes to…Ella McKenzie!" a gleeful little girl ran towards the man smiling happily. "And the first place prize, for the Elmwood Grove Annual Science Fair is…. Anthony Stark!" a roar of applause came from the crowd as Tony stepped on stage. "Good job son." The announcer said as he gave Tony the trophy. He shifted his hands around, so he could hold both the clunky robot, and the large trophy.

"Thanks." Tony said smiling. "I can't believe I won!" he thought, "Dad's going to be so proud!" the three prize winners held their position for a few minute as photos were taken and the crowd thinned out. Finally Tony was released and he ran out the door as fast as he could, anxious to get home and tell his parents, "Or maybe just dad." He thought, "Mom's probably too drunk any way." The entire car ride home, Tony's mind was filled with thoughts ranging from, "He'll be so proud!" to, "What if I disturb him and he punishes me? My ribs still aren't all better and the doctor said if I break any more I could have problems breathing." At that one, Natasha could see the three boys, and herself she presumed, visibly pale.

Steve broke through the rambling thoughts and said, "Well at least this one was good."

Bruce simply turned to look at him, a grim smile set on his face, "Wait." He stated. The eyes returned to the screen, now worried about what might happen to the young boy.

When they looked back Tony was just entering his house. He cautiously made his way to the back of the house and into a room, that Natasha guessed, was Howard's study. As Tony walked in, his eyes landed on a large, empty bottle that was most likely filled with alcohol at the beginning of the night. As soon as Tony saw it, he turned to leave but was greeted by Howard sanding directly in front of him.

"What are ya'doin here?" he slurred drunkenly.

"I-I uh, I just wanted to show you what I got at the science fair." He said timidly. He held the first place trophy in front of him, "See."

Howard ripped the trophy out of his hands and threw it to the side while Tony stared at him, jaw hanging in disbelief. "Wha' did you make?" He asked.

Tony brought the robot out from behind his back. "This?"

Howard ripped it from his hands, "This? You made this?" he rolled it over in his hands, stopping when he saw the _"Stark"_ logo printed on the bottom piece of metal. "You made this shit, with my materials?!" he roared.

Tony flinched and gulped, "y-Yes sir."

Howard forcefully grabbed his arm and yanked him toward the center of the room. He picked up a large hammer, and slammed it into the robot again and again until it was destroyed. The Avengers could tell he was crying, because the view was continually becoming cloudy. Tony sniffed, and Howard spun around to face him, "Are you crying?" he demanded. Tony quickly brought his hands up to his eyes to wipe away the tears. Howard reached out and yanked Tony's hands away. "Real men don't cry." He said in a scarily calm tone. "Real men don't cry!" He repeated again, this time yelling as he grabbed Tony's upper arm. He quickly threw him to the ground, his drunken rage consuming him, as he laid blow after blow to his own son. Kicking him in the ribs and chest he screamed, "You used my materials without my permission, I could have used them. Maybe that was the piece that found him! He would hate you, you ungrateful, disobedient, worthless child. He would hate you!" tears streamed down he young child's face as the screen faded to darkness.

The team sat there in shock, completely stunned by what they had seen. Their friend, leader, scientist, the person who seemed like nothing bothered him, he was unbeatable, and broken. So broken.

Steve turned his attention to Bruce, "You know more about him than any of us, who is this 'he' they keep talking about?"

Natasha stepped towards him, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, "It's you Steve."

Wow, just wow. I got really bad there. Sorry. I did choose my profile name for a reason. Anyway, I get if you hate me for being that bad to Tony, so yeah, sorry. I'm not really sure what you think about me now but please review. Maybe? (Insert really hopeful, please don't hate me too much face here)


	6. Chapter 6

Thank you guys so much for reviewing! It makes me so happy to know that you are enjoying my writing and want me to continue. I think there might be some of Tony's memories from his time in Afghanistan but I haven't seen the movie in a while and I lent my copy to my friend. So I'm basing this scene off Google. I tried to find clips but I couldn't find any good ones so I'm going to do it in the form of Bruce telling them. Please don't hate me if I get it wrong. There might be some Tony memories on the screen but I'm not really sure. I hope you enjoy and thanks again for the reviewsJ

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or its characters, if you recognize it- it's not mine. Also, just because I'm using the Iron Man Afghanistan scene- I do not own that either and I don't own Iron Man or its characters.

Natasha stepped towards him, and laid a gentle hand on his shoulder, "It's you Steve."

"Me?" Steve questioned, "Howard still was looking for me when Tony was born?"

"Yeah," Natasha said sadly, "he never stopped looking."

"So all that's Cap's fault?" Clint asked.

Natasha looked as if she was going to slap him, "What the hell Clint?" she turned to Steve, "It's not your fault." She assured kindly, "Howard Stark was a drunk and a horrible father. It's his own fault, not yours, not Tony's, _his_."

Steve shook his head forcefully, "God, it _is_ my fault. He was so focused on getting me out he didn't pay attention to his own son! How can Tony not hate me?"

Bruce stepped in, "He doesn't- not really. He doesn't blame you for what his father did, but he also can't look at you without seeing the reason for his father being that way."

"How do you know that?" Steve asked, clearly upset.

"He told me." Bruce stated simply, "We were, uh, working in the lab and talking about the team and he brought up that he doesn't really trust you."

"He doesn't trust Steve?" Natasha asked

"He does, he just doesn't really know how to explain why he dislikes Steve." Bruce said, "I pressed him for answers and eventually he explained things. It's not that he doesn't trust you, he just doesn't know how else to process being on a team with the same person he associates with his childhood trauma." He explained.

Steve shook his head in disbelief, "how could I not know about this?"

"No one really knew anything." The scientist said, "Just, me and Pepper."

"I knew a little. " Natasha spoke up, "Fury explained some of it to me when he assigned me to this team."

"So basically everyone knew about it except me and Cap over here." Clint said sarcastically, "Thanks for not filling us in."

"It was Tony's to share." Steve said quietly, "And quite frankly I could have lived without knowing it."

"We all could've." Natasha said, "But it's things like this that make people stronger."

Bruce rolled his eyes, "And how exactly did this make him stronger."

"Do you really think Tony would be on this team, be Iron Man, or have stopped making weapons if this hadn't happened." Natasha questioned

"Yeah I do." Bruce countered, "It was Afghanistan that made him stop building weapons, and he was in Afghanistan when he made the Iron Man prototype. His dad had nothing to do with it."

"Afghanistan?" Clint and Steve asked together.

"Yes," Natasha sighed, "Afghanistan, as in the place where Tony was kidnapped and tortured for three months until he escaped by building an Iron Man suit out of scrap metal. Did none of you actually read his file?"

The three men shook their heads, "I only knew what Tony told me." Bruce specified.

"Why was he kidnapped?' Steve asked.

"To build weapons." Bruce stated, "He was taken by a group of terrorists called the Ten Rings to make them weapons. They tortured him until he did so."

"So he built them the weapons?" Steve asked.

Bruce gave a grim smile and shook his head, "No, he said he was going to, but he made the original Iron Man suit instead."

"So…" Clint started, "You mean to tell us that he built a big robot suit in a cave, by himself, with scraps." He asked disbelievingly.

"He wasn't alone." Bruce said, "There was a doctor with him, but he didn't survive the escape. And Tony was hooked up to a car battery to. That's where his Arc Reactor comes from. The doctor couldn't remove all the shrapnel from his chest, so he made an electro magnet to pull it away instead. If Tony's Arc Reactor stops working, the shrapnel enters his heart and he dies." Bruce finished quietly.

Steve stared at him numbly, _"How have I never known this?"_ he thought, _"What else don't I know?"_ he made a mental note to find out the rest later. "I can't believe he never told us these things." He started saying, "We could have helped him, or done something."

"What would you have done Steve?" Bruce snapped "He was kidnapped and tortured for three months. The man that helped him escaped was shot to death getting Tony out. Every day since that he has to put his faith in a big piece of metal in his chest to keep him alive. He has to live knowing the man who saved his life gave his life, for Tony, and he can't ever repay him. How would you lie to talk about that?"

"I don't know," Clint butted in, "but you can't just keep secrets from your team like that."

"How would that conversation have gone?" Bruce questioned, "Did you just expect him to say, 'Fury wants to talk to us tomorrow, oh and by the way I got kidnapped by terrorists for three months in Afghanistan. They blew me up, then dug the pieces out of my while I was awake and put an electromagnet in its place. Then they beat me up and water boarded me until I agreed to build weapons for them. Then I risked my and my friend's life by directly disobeying them and making a giant robot suit modeled after a sketch I did when I was six and used it to escape. _Then_ I got said friend shot to death.' Yeah Hawkeye- I'm sure that would have gone over great."

"Look, Bruce I'm just saying- we need to trust each other, we can't keep secrets." Clint said defensively.

"How about every S.H.I.E.L.D secret you keep Clint?" Bruce asked.

"That- that's different." Hawkeye sputtered, "We have to keep those."

"Tony has to keep his." Bruce said simply, "It's not different at all."

While the two of them were glaring at each other, Steve decided to speak up. "Hey guys?" he started, "Does someone want to explain to me what 'water boarding' is?"

""It's a form of torture," Natasha started, "where the person's mouth and nose are covered with a rag or towel, and water is poured over it so they can't breathe."

"So, he was drowned?" Steve asked.

"Yeah." Bruce said, still glaring at Hawkeye as he spoke, "Repeatedly."

"This is ridiculous!" Steve exclaimed. "How did we not know this?"

"I read the file." Natasha said.

At the same time Bruce said, "Tony told me."

Clint and Steve glared at him simultaneously, "He didn't tell us." Steve stated darkly.

There was silence for a few minutes following that statement, until the voice came through the loudspeaker, "Now then," the man started, "if you all are done with the touchy-feely stuff, I'd like to get back to the show."

Steve glared at the little metal box, he was completely fed up with all the lies and secrets, he was just done. "What the hell is wrong with you?" he snapped, "You've destroyed this team- you've won! Can't you just give us back Tony and let us go?"

The voice paused for a moment, as I contemplating his answer, "No." no sooner than he had finished his answer, the screen flickered back to life, "Enjoy the show." Came the man's final words as the newest memory cued up.

I know- super short, I'm sorry. But I wanted to start the next chapter with a memory. It'll probably be up tomorrow so it won't be that long a wait. I hope you enjoyed this chapter and please reviewJ


	7. Chapter 7

Thank you so much for the reviews, it really does keep me writing. Also- my apologies for being late; I needed to take a break from writing because I had three chapters done, and then they all got deleted (I don't know how)L Again, sorry I will try to update on a more regular schedule once I re-write those three chapters. I hope you enjoy this chapterJ

Disclaimer: I do not own The Avengers or Iron Man or Captain America or any of their characters. All rights go to Marvel. If it's recognizable- it's not mine.

"Enjoy the show." Came the man's final words as the newest memory cued up. The four pairs of eyes turned upwards to look at the screen, scared for what they might see now. Again, the memory started with Tony staring in the mirror, it was as if Hammer wanted the Avengers to know how old Tony was. This memory was obviously from later, as he was approximately fourteen.

Bruce sighed, _"At least he's older."_ He thought sadly.

The memory continued as Tony wondered down the stairs and into what they assumed was the living room. Natasha laughed slightly at the scene in front of her. The room was brightly lit, strings of Christmas lights hanging everywhere. A huge tree stood in the center of the room, and as the young Tony looked at it the Avengers could see a wide smile across his face reflected in a silver ornament. He looked up at the top of the tree, and as he did a hand reached up from behind it and placed a brightly colored star on the top. Tony let out a startled gasp at the sudden movement, and looked like he was going to bolt. Before he had a chance to, however, a woman stepped out from behind the large tree. Steve inhaled sharply as Tony ran towards the unfamiliar woman and hugged her, shouting "Aunt Peggy!"

Steve let out a light laugh as Natasha turned to him, "Your _girlfriend_ Peggy?" she asked, slightly amused.

"Yeah." Steve said, smiling, "Looks like Tony knew her pretty well."

"Looks like it." Natasha chuckled softly, before turning her attention back to the screen.

"But Dad said we weren't having Christmas this year." Tony was saying.

"Well your dad's out of town, which means he won't know." Peggy responded with a wink, "Merry Christmas Tony."

Tony smiled brightly, "I have something for you too. I was going to give it to you when you got back from your mission. I'm going to run upstairs and get it!" Peggy smiled at him in return as he turned around and raced up the stairs. He threw open his door, desperately searching his room, before his eyes landed on a brightly wrapped present. He ran over to the corner, and grasping the package tightly in his hands, hurried back down the stairs. "Here you go." He said in between gasps of air as he handed the parcel to Peggy. "I made it by myself." He stated proudly. Peggy gently un-wrapped the gift, careful not to tare the wrapping, and removed a small box. She removed the lid, and gasped as she looked inside.

"You made this?" she asked in awe.

Tony smiled, "I made it from dad's scrap pieces. Do you like it?"

Peggy laughed, "It's amazing Tony!"

"Thanks Aunt Peggy!" he cried with delight, "Press the button on the side." He directed, leaning over to point, and giving his future team a view of the box's contents. It was an elegant, silver and gold watch, with two small dials on the side. As he was leaning over it, Tony spun the bottom dial, causing the face of the watch to change. As it did, Peggy gasped in astonishment. First, it transformed into the old S.H.I.E.L.D emblem, then Captain America's shield, then a picture of Steve- from before the crash, and finally; a picture of her.

Steve inhaled sharply at the sight of the last picture. It was almost like he was in the plane again, looking at the face of the girl he loved for on last time, before he crashed into the ice. It was the same picture, Steve was sure of it. He just couldn't think of anyplace Tony could have gotten that picture, as far as he knew- the one he put on the dashboard had been the only one. He snapped back to reality as Peggy started talking again.

"Thank you Tony." She said quietly, unshed tears in her eyes.

"What did I do wrong?" he questioned as he looked at her eyes, Steve could hear fear in his voice.

Peggy smiled sadly, "Nothing sweetie, I just miss him a lot."

Steve felt like crying too as he looked at the face of the woman he loved so many years ago. He almost felt like laughing, as he listened to his old girlfriend call hi friend 'sweetie'. Or kind-of friend. Steve couldn't imagine how Tony could even be around him because of the things his father did to him. "Because of me." Steve thought angrily, "He hurt his own son because of me." He didn't understand what had driven Howard to treat his son like that. When Steve had known him, he had been kind to him, and everyone else. "At least he has Peggy." He thought, "She'll protect him- I know she will." He turned his attention back to the screen.

"Dad's still looking for him." Tony was saying, "I don't think he's ever going to stop."

Peggy shook his head, "He might not, but whatever he does- I know I'm never going to stop. But don't think about that, it's Christmas Tony! Think about the good, and you haven't even opened your present yet!" she handed him a big, flat red package with a smile, "Go on, open it."

Tony gently took the package out of her hands and slowly un-wrapped it. His jaw dropped as he looked at what lay inside. There was a large leather-bound sketchpad, with a gold design on it- much like a certain robot suit his team knew well. Inside also laid an assortment of drawing pencils, calligraphy pens, and a jumble of other complex sketching equipment. Tony looked up at her, beaming, "Thank you Aunt Peggy, thank you so much!" he cried. He leaned over his present to embrace her. Peggy grinned at him as he pulled back.

"I remembered you told me your father threw away all your drawing things." She said humbly.

"Yeah." Tony sighed, "He took them away because I wasn't designing weapons. He told me that armor was for weak men. That strong men don't defend- they attack."

Peggy sighed, "He's wrong Tony." She started, "Strong men don't need weapons, they're too smart for that."

Tony simply shrugged, "Well he doesn't see it that way. I wish I could just live with you, you're more like my parents then either of them have ever been."

"You know If I could I would Tony." Peggy said, "But you remember what happened last time I tried to get full custody of you- your father paid off the judge and jury."

"I don't get it!" Tony finally cried out, "If he hates me so much and doesn't want me, why did he try so hard to keep me?"

"Oh honey," Peggy sighed, "He does want you, he just doesn't always show it."

"He doesn't." Tony stated, "He wants Steve for a son, not me."

Peggy shook her head, "He loves you, you know that- right?"

"Yeah." Tony sighed, "Sure he loves me, when he's beating the crap out of me, or making me walk ten blocks because he's too drunk to drive or call for a chauffer."

"It'll get better." Peggy said, trying to sound positive, "Just give it some more time."

"I've gave it fourteen years." Tony said glumly, "What more is there to give?"

"I don't know Tony." Peggy said, giving in, "I just don't know."

_==OK- so not exactly Tony whump but I wanted to put at least a semi- happy memory in it. The original was longer, but I don't remember it exactly, so sorry. I'll try to make the next two longer. I hope you enjoyed it and pretty please review.J


	8. Chapter 8

Thank you so much everyone who reviewed my last chapter! You guys are so awesome and I really hope you all enjoy this next chapter. I am going out of town tomorrow so there will not be an update but I am going to write on the drive so I can update Thursday. Also this chapter will have mentions of suicide- but I'm not going to go into depth. It'll just be Bruce talking about it, there won't be memories about it or anything.

Disclaimer: You know the drill: I don't own anything. If you recognize it- it's not mine.

"He knew Peggy." Steve stated quietly in amazement.

"Yeah." Bruce responded, "He knew her really well- she was like his aunt."

"Was?" Steve questioned, "What happened?"

"After Howard and Maria died- they kind of stopped talking. Tony took over the weapons business- something he never really wanted to do. Peggy wanted him to be happy and do something he really liked, but Tony said he needed to carry on the family legacy. He didn't talk to her after that. They just drifted apart." Bruce told him.

Steve shook his head sadly, "What did she mean by, 'last time I tried to get full custody of you'?"

"Howard put him in the hospital once." Bruce stated quietly, "Tony had a near-fatal brain injury, a broken leg, a broken rib, and two cracked ones. He was in the hospital for three weeks before Howard and Maria took him home. Peggy heard about it when she was overseas looking for you. She left halfway through the mission to fly back and help Tony. He lived with her for two months while she tried to get full custody of him, but Howard just paid off the judges and jury. He got to keep Tony, and that wasn't even the first time he put Tony in the hospital. He was four the first time- Howard broke his arm and dislocated his shoulder. Then when he was seven Howard was drunk and got in a car accident with Tony in the back seat. Tony was in a coma for four weeks. Peggy never left his side. Tony even told me what she said to him when he was in the coma; Peggy's supervising officer came and tried to pull her away for a mission- she flipped him off, and told him, to his face, that unless Tony and a fleet of doctors were coming with him- she was not leaving him alone." Bruce laughed dryly before continuing, "The last time was when Tony was fifteen- the time I just told you about."

Steve, Natasha, and Clint stared at him with matching expressions of hatred, anger, and fear for Tony. Steve looked like he wanted to punch the wall (and pretend it was Howard's face), Clint was curling his fists together so tightly his knuckles were turning white, and tiny droplets of blood were landing on the floor from where he was digging his nails into his palms. Natasha had tears sparkling in her eyes, but was managing to keep them back, until a small rebellious one run down her cheek.

As the dam broke she spat out a continuous stream of Russian swearing, "то, что, черт возьми, не так с этой гребаной sutpid ублюдок !"

"How the hell can anybody treat a child like that?" she translated in English to strengthen her point.

 ***So very sorry quick little author's note. I do not know any Russian or anything about hospitals I used Google.***

Clint, who had managed to learn a little Russian from being around her, noticed she had edited the worst out that statement. (Although he thought the first one was better suited or the situation.) He agreed with his partner, "I don't understand why Tony never told us about this." He said quietly in disbelief.

"Because he would have to tell us what it did to him." Bruce clarified.

"What did he do?" Natasha whispered worriedly.

When Bruce didn't answer Steve stepped in.

"What did it do to him Bruce?" Steve asked through clenched teeth. Natasha and Clint looked at Bruce with expressions of fear plastered on their faces, and Clint gave him a curt nod for him to continue.

Bruce swallowed, and took a deep breath before continuing, "He tried to kill himself- twice."

At this, Steve lost control. He spun around, and punched the first thing in his path- the door. As expected, his fist collided with the door and bounced right off. It was left with a small dent and a splatter of blood. Steve turned back to Bruce with a grimace of pain on his face. Rubbing his hurt hand carefully, he slowly said, "Continue."

"H-he um," Bruce stuttered softly. He didn't want to describe it too much. When Tony had first told him- he had almost hulked out. Now he knew he couldn't, but he didn't exactly know what the knowledge could do to a Super Soldier and two master assassins. But he continued anyway, determined not to go into too much detail. "The second time was after Peggy lost the custody battle. Tony didn't want to live with his father anymore, and he knew he couldn't run away because Howard would just track him down, so he tried to kill himself. Maria was an addict and she had prescription painkillers on hand, so Tony took those. From what he told me he took almost two bottles before passing out. Technically, he was DOA but the paramedics were able to restart his heart."

The three Avengers stared at him, they couldn't believe that Tony, the one that always seemed happy and carefree could have such a dark past. No one spoke for a minute or two before Clint broke the silence.

"What about the first time?" Clint asked.

Bruce squirmed uncomfortably, "I don't really think Tony would want me to talk about it." It was barely a glance but Steve caught it out of the corner of his eye.

"What is it?" Steve asked Bruce suspiciously. _"Does it have something to do with me?"_ he thought. _"He did look at me weird after he said he couldn't tell us."_

Bruce shook his head, "I uh, I really can't tell you." He emphasized, "It's really not something Tony would want you guys to know." He glanced at Steve slightly again.

This time Steve returned it, "Something you can't say in front of all of us, or in front of me?" he added, somewhat angry.

"I-I mean, no, kind of." Bruce stuttered. He looked at Steve and sighed at the look of anger and hurt written across his face. "You." He sighed.

Steve bit back the harsh comment floating at the tip of his tongue, just waiting to be used, "What happened." He asked instead.

Bruce hesitated for a second, "He tried to kill himself for the first time two years before the custody battle, he was twelve." He started. "His father had just gotten…news…and was traveling to get more information. Tony learned what was happening, and tried to slit his wrists."

"What else?" Steve pushed, "If we're going to help him we need to know what hurt him."

"You." Bruce said quietly. "Howard got news that they knew where you where, and he flew down immediately. Tony was so afraid of you, because of what his dad had done because of you that he tried to kill himself. Maria found him on the kitchen floor, bleeding out. She called 911 and they got there in time, but Tony told me later that he was always secretly relieved that it was a false alarm, and that you weren't there."

Steve stared at him, in shock from learning his friend had almost died because of him.

Natasha, meanwhile, couldn't take it. She turned he body into Clint's and cried into his shoulder. She didn't know how to deal with this. The Black Widow, the woman who could withstand torture and watching her best friend, her savior, turn against her, but she couldn't take this. So she surprised herself as she realized she was sobbing into the shoulder of her partner. She quickly detached herself from him and furiously swiped at her eyes, trying to rid her face of all traces of weakness.

Clint grabbed her hand gently, "It's okay." He whispered as he embraced her again.

Steve just looked at Bruce, dumbstruck. "I just, I can't even believe this was the same person I knew. It's just, it's just not right."

"You think?" Bruce scoffed. It was meant as something to lighten the situation, but Steve took it differently.

"Why?" He asked solemnly, "Why would Tony try to kill himself because he thought I was alive?"

"Because," Bruce started, "Howard had it drilled into Tony's head that you would hate him, you would despise him, or blame him for what happened, or that Howard would get rid of him and make you his son."

Steve didn't know whether to cry or laugh because it was so ridiculous. He wanted to yell and scream to Tony or anyone that even if he was found back then he wouldn't hate him. He didn't hate him now, and he definitely didn't hate him back then. But all he could think of is the argument he had with him when they first met. "I know men worth ten of you!" He had spat. How he wished he could take it back now. _"Why did I say that?"_ He asked himself, _"God why did I say that? How can Tony hate me so much and still work with me? He must have saved my life a dozen times since we've known each other._ _ **He's**_ _worth ten of_ _ **me**_ _."_ He thought sadly. But out loud he said, "How did I not notice these things, that he hates me?"

"He doesn't." Bruce assured, "At least not anymore. Once he met you he realized you weren't who he thought you were. Or who his dad said you were."

Steve sighed, "How can he live like this?"

Bruce chuckled lightly, "You got me there. I don't know, God knows I couldn't live like that."

Steve nodded, "He's strong, but I don't know how anyone could be fine after living like that."

"Me neither." Natasha said quietly as Clint nodded.

"We need to get out of here." Bruce stated, breaking the tension with a statement everyone could agree on. "We've been here for about two days, with no food, no sleep, and no water. We're not going to last much longer, and we don't even know what's happening to Tony."

"We need a plan though." Steve said, rubbing his aching hand, "And punching through isn't an option."

"We could wait them out." Bruce said. "They probably want to torture us more by showing us more memories. They don't want us to die, so they'll have to bring us food and water some time. We can fight our way out then."

Clint shook his head, "That's too long a wait. I don't think any of us can stand any more memories. Maybe we ca-"

He was cut off by Natasha shushing him. She put a finger to her lips. "Do you hear that?" She whispered. She motioned for them to follow her, and the four shuffled quietly to the door, pressing their ears against the hard metal.

"I don't hear any-" Clint tried to say, but Natasha cut him off again. He pressed his ear back to the door, shuddering as it came into contact with the frigid material. It only took a few more seconds to hear the tell-tale sign of a rescue; gunfire. He pulled away, a burst of warmth spreading across the side of his face, as he cried, "It's gunfire!" the rest pulled away as well, Natasha grinning broadly at him.

"We're getting out of here." She whispered excitedly. "We're getting out of here!" She laughed, hugging Clint, and quickly letting go, _"Why am I so out of character today?"_ She questioned herself.

"Stark, Barton, Romanoff, Rogers, Banner- anyone?!" Steve heard someone yell.

"In here!" Steve shouted back, he motioned for the others to help him.

"In here!" Bruce yelled with him as Natasha and Clint banged on the door. "We're in here!"

"Stand back!" A voice yelled, feet away from them.

Steve realized what was about to happen seconds before it did. "Move!" he yelled, jumping back, as a blast went off and the door was kicked open. Fury and a few other agents stepped into the dimly lit room just as Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha climbed to their feet.

Bruce was the first to reach him, "Where's Tony?" he gasped. Fury opened his mouth to respond, but before he got the chance Bruce had pushed past him, closely followed by the other three members of his team.

Fury turned slowly, slightly put off by the amount of concern that was being showed. "What the hell happened to you?" He demanded to know, "This is the most concern you've shown for him…ever."

"You'd be surprised about the things you can learn in a cage." Bruce said calmly, "Now where's Tony?"

"What the hell is that supposed to mean?" Fury asked suspiciously, directly trying to avoid the most concerning question.

"It's not important sir." Steve said stepping in, "Can you please tell us where Stark is now?"

Fury sighed ever so slightly, "He was taken back to the helicarrier to be treated."

"Treated for what?" Natasha questioned worriedly, "What's wrong?"

Fury sighed again, "We don't know. There was just a lot of blood, _a lot_ of blood. We don't even know where it was coming from."

"What did the medics say?" Natasha asked desperately, "Is he going to be okay?"

Fury took a deep breath before answering, "I…I don't know."

 _"No."_ Steve thought, _"No he can't go through all that, put us through all that and just die. No, it won't happen. Tony Stark will not die. Will he?"_

+++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++++ok, so that was probably a little mean. Putting poor Tony through all that and then killing him. Or maybe he's alive. I haven't written it yet so anything can happen. (Hahahaha evil chuckle and laughter here.) Anyway, please review,and I will see you on Thursday or Friday. Hint hint- it'll be Thursday if I get enough reviewsJ


	9. Chapter 9

Oh my gosh, oh my gosh, oh my gosh! I got so many reviews! I am so happy and thank you guys so much. I hope you enjoy the (sad face and tears here) last chapter of Taken.

Disclaimer: I don't own any of these characters (Sigh- I really wish I did). If you recognize it- it's not mine.

 _"No."_ Steve thought, _"No he can't go through all that, put us through all that and just die. No, it won't happen. Tony Stark will not die. Will he?"_ Out loud he asked, "Where is the helicarrier?"

"There's an open field barely a quarter of a mile from here." Fury responded, "I parked her there."

Steve nodded as he took off, the rest of his team on his heels. "Do you think he'll be okay?" He asked Bruce quietly as they were walking.

Bruce shrugged, "I don't know. I haven't seen what happened yet so I can't declare anything." Looking at the terrified face his friend was desperately trying to hide he added, "I think he'll be okay. He's a survivor, he has to be."

"Yeah." Steve whispered, "What about the rest of us?"

"What do you mean?" Clint said, jumping in on the conversation.

"Just that," Steve started, "I don't really see how we can go back to the team we were before this."

"Me either." Natasha said, joining in. "But… maybe it doesn't have to be a bad thing."

"And which part of this exactly isn't bad?" Steve snapped at her, "I'm sorry." He added quickly, "This just doesn't seem like something that we can get past that easily."

"I agree." Natasha said softly, "It's going to be a change, but change doesn't always have to be bad. We know all the things he's been hiding from us- now we've got a clean slate, we can start over."

"Start what over?" Steve asked, "We weren't really even a team before. What will we be now?"

"Closer." Bruce stated, "If we weren't really a team before- we diffidently are one now. We need to trust each other, and now we can."

Steve just shook his head, "That may work for you all, but all I can think about is how Tony was brought up like that in my name."

"Your _name_ Steve." Natasha emphasized, "Not you. You didn't hurt him- Howard did. And he doesn't hate you for it."

Steve nodded slowly, "I just can't believe he doesn't hate me." He said slowly.

"Because he knows you." Clint said, "No one who knows you could hate you Cap." He threw an arm over the larger man's shoulders with a smile and they walked that way for a few minutes. "We're here." He stated, grin vanishing from his face as he thought of what they could be told as they entered the aircraft.

"Where's the medical bay?" Steve asked Natasha as they walked into the helicarrier.

"It's down this hallway and to the left." Natasha told them as she directed them through a large group of black clad figures. True to her words, as they walked through the double doors the setting drastically changed. The walls were white, and everything was lit brightly. It almost looked like a normal hospital with the hard plastic chairs in the corner and the disinfectant smell in the air.

Steve approached a man walking through the room carrying a clipboard. "Excuse me?" He asked, "Do you know anything about Tony Stark being brought in?"

The man nodded, "He was brought into the O.R about ten minutes ago. You can wait over there." He said, pointing to the cluster of chairs in the corner. "It'll probably be a while; he looked pretty damn messed up."

"Thank you." Steve responded, before walking back to the other Avengers. "Over here." He told them, herding them over to the hard chairs. "It might be a while."

After a few minutes of arguing over who would get coffee, Bruce left for beverages and the others settled down- each becoming lost in their own thoughts by the time Bruce returned with their drinks.

Everyone was silent as the coffee was handed out. The only movements were nods of thanks as the drinks exchanged hands. Each hero was lost in themselves, each thinking about Tony- what was happening to him, what they had learned, or simply moments in their past when everything wasn't ruined.

 _"What could they have done to him?"_ Steve wondered, _"Did Hammer really hate him so much he would kill him?"_ "No!" He whispered out loud. Clint shot him a silent glare, a way of saying 'shut up' without words. _"He's not dead."_ Steve continued in his head, _"If he were dead, they would tell us, we would know- right?"_ he continued the conversation in his head for the next few hours, like a song on loop.

Meanwhile, Natasha was lost in her own thoughts. _"How could I not know what he did, how he lived?"_ she wondered, _"I'm supposed to know these things. I should be able to tell those things from a single glance- how did he hide his past so well?"_ She was torn between amazement and fear. Amazement because Tony had been able to fool, not only her, but also Clint. And fear for her friend's life, she didn't know what had happened to him, and it scared her. _"No- wait."_ She thought _, "I shouldn't be scared, I don't feel fear- I shouldn't."_ and yet here she was, scared for the person she hadn't even known long, her friend, her teammate's life. She shook her head, _"I haven't even known him all that long, so why do I care for him so much?"_ She asked herself the question many times, and yet- she always knew the answer. It was because of the Battle of New York. Since she had seen him fly the nuke into the portal, risk his life- and loose it, if only temporarily- to protect everyone. _"Cap was wrong."_ Was the only conclusion she could come up with. _"He was dead wrong. No one's worth ten of Tony. No one even comes close."_

Clint was having similar thoughts as Natasha. _"How could he not trust us enough to tell us?"_ he wondered, slightly hurt, _"Does he really hate us that much? No, he can't! Bruce knows him better than all of us, and he said Tony doesn't hate us- at least, I hope not. But how did he get it past us? I mean Steve I understand, maybe even me, but Nat? How the hell did pull one over on Nat?!"_

Bruce was the only one whose thoughts differed, as he already knew about Tony's past. All that was left for him to do was to hope, and to pray. _"Please just let him be okay."_ He thought to no one in particular, he was willing to get help from anyone- he didn't care who it was. _"Please,"_ He repeated, _"he's been through so much- just let him make it through this. Please!"_ he repeated his words continuously in his head until they all blended together.

Between the four Avengers continuous stream of prayers and questions, the time passed rather quickly, and before any of them knew it, Tony's doctor was standing in front of them. "Ahem." He said, clearing his throat to gather the team's attention, "I have information on your friend."

The speed the four heroes sprang to their feet was unheard of until that moment. "What happened, is he okay?" Steve asked frantically.

The doctor put his hand up to slow the soldier, "I believe he'll be okay." he started, "but the first twenty-four hours are crucial. We were able to reset his ribs and patch the hole in his lungs. However, he is unable to breathe by himself so he has a breathing tube." As he surveyed the looks of horror across the Avenger's faces he quickly added, "But it will be able to be removed in about a week. He also has some minor brain damage from the blows he sustained, so you have to go one at a time and be quiet, but you can visit him."

"Is he awake?" Clint demanded to know.

The doctor chuckled slightly under his breath, "No, it is highly unlikely he will wake up at all for the next few days. As long as he survives this one."

"What do you mean, 'survives this one'?" Natasha asked, worry clearly evident in her voice.

"I'll be blunt ma'am," the doctor started, "he crashed twice in surgery. With the amount of injuries he has sustained- I am surprised he is alive at all. There is significant damage to his left lung, and his heart might give out because of all the stress he's under."

"What about his Arc Reactor?" Bruce questioned, "You don't have it near anything that could cause it to malfunction right?"

The doctor nodded, "Yes, when the Avenger team was put together Director Fury made sure we were prepared to handle all injuries specific to your needs."

Bruce sighed, happy there had been precautions made, "Thank you."

The doctor offered another nod before saying, "You can visit him now, he's in room number 126."

"Thank you." Natasha said quietly before turning to the rest of her team. "Who's going first?" she asked.

Bruce raised his hand slightly before answering, "Steve should go first." He said quietly.

Clint nodded in agreement, "Yeah- Steve."

"Go." Was all Natasha managed as she motioned to the room, "He's waiting."

Steve laughed quietly, "I'm going." He told them with a smile before walking towards the door. He paused; hand on the doorknob, _"What if he's awake?"_ He thought, _"What if he tells me to get out?"_ he glanced back to look at his team.

'Go!' Natasha mouthed, motioning with her hands for him to enter.

Steve took a deep breath to calm his nerves, _"The doctor said he won't be awake."_ He thought as he pushed the door open. He breathed a sigh of relief when he discovered the doctor's words were true. Tony was lying in the bed, hooked up to more beeping machines them Steve could count. As he got closer, Steve noticed how small he looked- and pale. He was almost as white as the sheets. His pale skin was broken in places; stitches on his right temple, a bandage on his left. Bruises littered his face- the obvious result of someone striking him repeatedly. Steve felt his blood boil at the thought of people hurting his friend, Howard, Hammer. He hated them both. He sat heavily in the hard chair next to Tony. Looking at him, he realized the bruises didn't end at his face. Tony's exposed torso was covered in splotches of color- different stages of bruising and healing. A large bandage also covered most of his left side, wrapping around his shoulder. Steve could only guess that that was where his lung had been punctured, and collapsed. He leaned back in his chair, the effects of the past two days catching up with him. Steve closed his eyes, and slowly fell asleep to the steady beeping of machines. The proof his friend was alive. _"He'll be okay."_ Steve thought as he finally drifted off to sleep.

_Wow. I know I said Thursday but I got it finished tonight. Guess you get it earlyJ So okay, that's it. The end of my first Avengers fanfiction. I really, really hope you guys liked it and I know this is the end but please review and tell me what you think. Thank you all so much for reading:)


	10. Chapter 10

Hey guys. So this is the part two of thy Avengers Fanfiction. I got people telling me they wanted more- so here it is! It was originally going to be a separate story but I was worried that it would be hard to find or something. And sorry this took so long to put up, something is really wrong with my computer and I had to get it fixed, _again_. Finally, thanks everyone who reviewed, favored and followed the first part, I really hope you enjoy the second. J

Disclaimer: very sadly I don't own The Avengers or any of the superheroes' stories.

Tony POV:

 _"It's dark."_ Tony thought, _"Why is it so dark? It was always so bright in that room."_ He thought back to the room he had been held in. The lights had been so bright, buzzing like a swarm of angry bees. _"Not been,"_ He corrected, _"Are. At least I think so? Have I left yet?"_ He wondered as more questions flooded into his mind. The dark place had the same scent- the sharp sting of alcohol, and smell of medicine and sickness. _"It's kind of different."_ he noted. The smell was more clinical, cleaner. And there was a quiet, steady beeping- in time with his heart rate. He also felt slightly detached, from everything, it seemed. Almost as if he was floating. There was pain, but it was distant, like it belonged to someone else. Not sharp like it was before, but a dull and throbbing ache. _"The drugs."_ He said to himself as he decided that no; he was no longer in Hammer's lab, but in a hospital. _"They rescued me!"_ he thought suddenly, _"Fury and Hill- they found us and broke us out."_ As the memories began to start flooding in, he groaned suddenly. He was nearing a state of conciseness, and as he did, the pain grew more and more. He groaned again as he tried to open his eyes. _"Oh hell no!"_ he thought quickly as the sudden flash of white nearly blinded him. _"Best just… keep them closed for the moment."_ He continued. He settled for trying to move his hand, once assuring himself he could, in fact, move, he tried to open his eyes again. The light assaulted his eyes less this time, merely causing him to blink quickly, instead of crying out in pain. He groaned once again. _"Damn it, that still hurts."_ He thought angrily. He pried his eyes back open, ignoring the light, so he could take in his surroundings. _"Yep."_ He thought, _"Diffidently a hospital."_ He propped himself up a little bit on the pillows to get a better look. There was a large IV bag hooked up to his arm, and bandages wrapped around his torso. He gasped in pain as he reached up to touch his side. "Bad idea." He groaned aloud, internally reminding himself to not do that again. He glanced out the window, hoping to spot a doctor, and caught a glimpse of something he hadn't expected, Steve. Steve- as in _Steve Rogers_ , as in the last person he had expected to be speaking with a doctor outside his room, and looking _worried_. _"Huh."_ He thought, _"I mean, Bruce I get, but Steve? I didn't know he cared."_

Steve POV:

He was worried, and that was just an understatement. It had been two weeks, and Tony still hadn't woken up. There had been times where his eyes were open, or he would move slightly. But he was never really awake, unable to grasp onto his surroundings, or to know he was safe. So yeah, Steve was worried. He would even go as far as to say he was scared, and he knew the others were as well. Bruce had barely left Tony's side the entire time. Only leaving the day before, when Steve had forced him to go, saying that Bruce dying from exhaustion was no way to help Tony. Natasha was scared as well, even if she didn't show it. She was even quieter than usual. Only speaking when being asked a question, and spending most of her time in the shooting range or her room. He hadn't really had the chance to talk to her though, considering she had left five days after they were rescued, an urgent mission given directly by Fury. They had received no word from her since. He knew Clint had been affected too, but like her, he didn't say it. He had left with Natasha, also avoiding contact with his team. Steve sighed thinking about it, _"What was so important they had to leave so soon?"_ He wondered, _"And why couldn't they tell us where they were going?"_ he grew slightly angry thinking about it. _"They both deserted him."_ He thought harshly, _"When he needed us they left."_ but quickly stopped himself and shook his head, _"No, they wouldn't do that to him. They care as much about him as I do."_ He glanced back down at the pale form of his sleeping friend. He had more color now, but blood loss was still a factor in his health, and it took a toll on his complexion. Steve shook his head again, _"That's it."_ He thought, _"It's been too long, I want to talk to his doctor. He said a few days but it's been much longer."_ He looked back at Tony again as he stood up, no change. _"What did you expect?"_ He thought, _"He was just magically going to wake up? Even if he could why would he? He probably hates you."_ He reminded himself sadly. He turned away from his friend and stepped out the door. _"Why didn't he just tell us?"_ He wondered bitterly for the thousandth time, _"It's not as if we would've thought any less of him."_ He ran over that same line the entire time it took him to reach the nurse's desk. "Hi." He said as he reached the front desk, immediately changing his sad tone to bright as he spoke to the nurse.

She smiled back at him, "Hi, can I help you?"

"Uh, yes." He started, "My friend was brought in over two weeks ago and he still hasn't woken up."

"Oh, I'm so sorry." The brightly clad nurse responded sincerely, "Would you like to speak to the doctor in charge?"

Steve nodded, "That'd be great."

The nurse turned back to her computer, "What's his name?"

"Tony, uh Stark." Steve replied.

"…Got it…" she said slowly as she typed the name into her computer. "Room 126?"

"Yes that's it." Steve agreed.

"Figured," The woman chuckled, "there's only one Tony Stark."

Steve smiled, "Yeah there is."

The nurse laughed, and added, "His doctor is Doctor Henry Allen, I've already paged him, so he'll be here in a few minutes."

"Thank you ma'am." Steve said before walking away. She gave him a little wave in response.

Steve sighed, _"Please let nothing have gone wrong_." He thought to no one particularly, _"Just please don't let him die."_

He had barely reached the door when a tall, slender man in a lab coat approached him.

"Doctor Allen?" Steve asked cautiously, he had grown wary of strangers in light of new truths.

The doctor nodded, "I was told you wished to see me?"

It was Steve's turn to nod, "I was just wondering when my friend was going to wake up."

"He did suffer major blood loss." Doctor Allen started, "And multiple head injuries. Quite frankly, it does not surprise me that he has been asleep for this length of time. His body needs time to rest, and to heal. So it may be a little while longer. If there's nothing else you require, I have many other patients I need to care for."

"Of course." Steve said quickly, "Thank you, for your time."

"You're welcome." The doctor responded, "Have a nice day."

"You too." Steve replied. He placed his hand back on the handle to open the door, and as he did he caught a glimpse of something that took him by surprise, Tony was awake. He had his eyes open and was examining his surroundings with a calculating look. Steve gapped slightly at the sight of his friend looking so alive so suddenly. Not that he wasn't before, but he just looked so different when he was moving. Steve quickly snapped himself out of his trance. He shoved the door open, the loud noise startling Tony and causing him to whip his head around to face the super soldier. "Tony!" Steve gasped.

_ok, little bit of a cliff-hanger, not much. In case none of you are familiar with The Flash, I hinted at it a little by naming the doctor after the main character's father. I like DC too. Anyway, I hope you liked this and the next chapter will be up in a few days. Unless you don't like it. I know it's a little weird, but if you don't really want me to continue it just tell me. But I do hope you liked it, and sorry for the shortness but I wanted to leave the first chapter of part two like that. Also if you guys did like it the next chapter will have Bruce, Natasha, and Clint in it. Please review, maybe?


	11. Chapter 11

Hey guys, so thank you so much for the reviews and I'm really glad you're enjoying this story. Also, my friend just invited me to go on vacation with her so I won't be able to update for about two weeks. So sorry. Anyway hope you enjoy this next chapterJ

Disclaimer; sadly I still don't own The Avengers.

Natasha POV

"Natasha duck!" Clint yelled as he dived behind a large metal rack stacked high with strange colored chemicals. As she hit the ground in front of him he fired three shots over her head, effectively taking out three of the four guards pursuing them. Natasha leaned out from behind the table she was using for cover to fire off a shot that hit the last man squarely in the chest. Clint, believing the current danger had passed, stood up from behind his protective barrier. Natasha stood as well, turning to her partner. Realization spread across her face as her eyes landed on the man approaching Clint.

"Down!" she shouted franticly as she raised her gun to shoot the man. She managed to fire off two rounds, but not before he had already put one of his own into Clint's unprotected back. She watched helplessly as her friend crumpled to the ground. "Clint!"

24 hours earlier, (Day one of mission)

Natasha walked swiftly through the halls of the hellicarrier, determined to know why Fury had pulled her away from Tony's side. She continued marching through the halls until she reached her mark. Without knocking she shoved the door open, and quickly found herself a seated next to Clint. Fury turned away from the window as he heard the door slam shut.

"Agent Romanoff, Agent Barton," he started, "I understand that now is a delicate time, but you are needed for a vital mission, essential to our security." He slid a thick packet across the table. Natasha grabbed it first and began flipping through.

"Hammer." She stated, traces of resentment clearly evident in her voice, and for good reason.

Fury nodded, "We've been tracking him for months before this. We have knowledge he has been trying to replicate the super serum, and that he is putting together a team. Whether he has completed these tasks, or why he is doing this is unknown, but his hatred for S.H.I.E.L.D cannot go unnoted. In light of recent events, it is now necessary to bring him in, and I felt the two of you were the best choice for this mission."

Clint snatched the envelope from off the table and stalked out of the room. "Thank you sir." Natasha said hastily as she rushed after her partner. "Clint!?" she called to him as soon as the door slammed shut behind her. _"Where the hell did the idiot go?"_ she mentally questioned, angry with her partners highly unprofessional, not to mention emotional, outburst. She continued walking the same direction she came in, hoping she would spot Clint on the way, and thankfully, she did. "Clint!" she called, somewhat relieved.

He glanced up at her, "What?" he asked, annoyed.

"What the hell was that?" Natasha questioned forcefully, "You just stalked out of there like an overgrown child throwing a tantrum! I thought you'd be happy we are being given a chance to chase down the SOB that kidnapped us!"

"As much as I'd like to nail his head to a wall, what about Tony?" he asked, his tone had an almost worried element to it.

Natasha rolled her eyes, "Seriously!? That's what you're worried about? He hasn't woken up the last few days, there's no way he's going to wake up now." She reassured.

Clint shook his head, as if clearing away thoughts of worry, before changing the topic. "Whatever, when do we leave?"

Natasha looked at the slip of paper Fury had put on top of the packet, it read; **_3:30, top deck, don't be late_** _._ She glanced down at her watch, _3:32_ , "Two minutes ago." She stated.

"Let's go." Clint uttered, turning away from Natasha, and intentionally blocking her out.

She sighed quietly behind him, _"This is going to be a fun ride."_

Bruce POV

He was sitting in the hard plastic chair next to Tony's still form. It would have been completely silent if not for the steady beeping of the machines, constantly reminding Bruce that his friend was alive, contrary to his appearance. He sighed, _"Why won't he wake up?"_ he wondered. He missed their playful banter while working in their, _Tony's really_ , lab. It had only been a few days but Bruce could already see a drastic change in everyone's behavior. A vail of quiet had settled over the Avengers, effectively silencing them from discussing what had happened. Whether this was from the newfound facts, or the absence of the playful entity that was Tony, Bruce was unsure. All he knew for certain was that the second Tony woke up, there was going to be a lot of talking. He was worried, for Tony, and for what this was going to mean for the rest of the team. Bruce just didn't see how they could possibly go back to the way they were before. It was all he wanted really, to have things go back to normal. To a time when Tony wasn't half dead and Steve talked, or to a time when Clint and Natasha didn't just leave when things where getting bad. He knew this was going to mess things up for Thor too. Still having no idea when the demigod would return, Bruce had left the reunion up to his imagination. Unfortunately, that gave him room to think about what it would be like when Tony did wake up. Would they push him too much, cause him to dive back in his shell and keep any answers they wanted away from them? Or would he offer them up willingly, quite possibly he could desire to talk about the things that had destroyed his past and haunted his future.

 _"What if he doesn't remember?"_ Bruce realized with a startled thought. _"We don't know how they got those memories, maybe he'll have no idea it even happened! What do we do then? Maybe we could-"_

He was broken out of his thoughts by a strong hand being placed on his shoulder. Bruce gasped, startled, as he turned around.

"Shush, it's me." Steve assured quietly, "I just wanted to stay with him for a while, you know, so you can go home."

Bruce shook his head, "I don't want to leave just yet."

Steve rolled his eyes slightly, "You've been here since Natasha and Clint left, as in _two days ago_."

Bruce just shook his head again, "He shouldn't be alone, what if something happens? And what if he wakes up?"

"That's why I'm going to be here Bruce. Now go home, you can come back tomorrow." Steve said gently.

He sighed, looking reluctantly back at his sleeping friend, then at the determined look on Steve's face. "Fine." He groaned, finally cracking under the look the Steve was giving him. "I'm going."

Steve smiled, somewhat triumphantly, as he watched Bruce leave, and sat down in the little plastic chair. "Looks like it's you and me again Tony."

_So massively very very sorry for shortness and for not continuing the fight scene but I have to leave in literally less than an hour and I have not packed. At all. I promise that the second I get back I will start writing the next part and I will work on it while I'm gone and it will be three times as long. I promise. Please don't hate me, and maybe review? Hopefully? J


	12. Chapter 12

Hi. So it's been a while, huh? Yeah I know- almost a year. I couldn't possibly tell you how sorry I am. I have a story, but I'm not going to tell it now. I don't know if any of you are still reading, it really has been a while. If any of you stayed to see if I would update; thank you- really. I won't waste your time with my rambling, but truly- thank you: and as always, I don't own The Avengers.

Natasha's POV:

"Clint!" I screamed as I watched my best friend and partner fall to the ground. It was unprofessional, I know, but emotion got the best of me in that moment. He collapsed like a puppet that had its strings cut. I scanned the room quickly to ensure no others were lurking before I ran to the still body of my partner. I shook his shoulder gently, "Clint?" I asked tentatively as I rolled him over so he was facing up. He groaned softly and I swear I nearly jumped in joy.

"Tasha?" he whispered weakly. Blood trickled slowly as it parted his lips and dripped down his chin. I felt bile rise in my throat but I pushed it back down. I was a professional; I needed to remain that way. Besides- Clint and I had been through far worse; Germany, for example. I shuddered involuntarily at the mere thought of what had happened up there. I shoved my thoughts to the side and turned my focus back to the task at hand, Clint was what mattered most right now, and anything else could wait.

As I looked back at his ever paling face his eyes began to slip shut. I raised the hand that wasn't supporting him and slapped him across the face- now wasn't the time for niceties. I knew that due to the fact that we had no extraction team we needed both of us to make it out alive, I wouldn't be able to carry Clint out as well as fight my way through a few dozen agents with the intent to kill us.

He groaned as my hand met his face, "Great bedside manner, Nat." he murmured. I rolled my eyes and suppressed a groan of my own, typical Clint. Although, really I should be happy he was even awake, not to mention alive, to joke. Based off the amount of blood that was making its way through his lips and pooling underneath him the bullet had struck one of his lungs- the left one, most likely.

"Keep your damn eyes open, got it?" I demanded in a harsh voice.

"Yeah, yeah. You're the boss, woman." He groaned. His voice sounded a little stronger, thankfully.

"I need to wrap it," I told Clint curtly, "so you need to sit up."

He muttered something quietly under his breath, my guess was that he was cursing me, but he sat up nonetheless. I heard his breath catch in his throat in pain as he moved but he for the most part, stayed silent. I reached into the pouch at my hip and withdrew a long strip of cloth to use for a bandage. Moving slowly so that I wouldn't jostle the pained man I shifted my body around and positioned myself so that I could wrap up his back. Gently, I wrapped the length of cloth around his torso and under and over his arms to secure it. When I was absolutely certain that it would not slip or shift and that it was tight enough to stop the flow of blood I moved back to my position in front of him.

"Come on," I said, reaching out a hand for him to grab, "we have to go."

He reached up and grasped my arm, trying to pull himself up. He managed to hoist his upper body up but seemed unable to get his legs under him. His face contorted into an expression of exertion and then into pain. He collapsed back to the ground, sweat popping off his brow. He hung his head down but I could see his forehead wrinkle in concentration.

After a moment he lifted his head to look at me and the most disturbing look I had ever seen crossed his face. For the first time in the section of my life with him in it, he looked scared; scared and hopeless.

He locked eyes with me and for a split second it was like I could feel his pain. "Tash," he said in a quiet voice laced with fear, "I can't move my legs."

~At the hospital~

Third person POV:

Steve sighed, thinking back to when he had walked in to see Tony awake.

 _"Tony?" Steve gasped. He hurried to his friend's bed as Tony's eyes followed his path._

 _Tony groaned, his voice laced with pain, "Yep, that'd be me." Steve felt a large smile break across his face, he was sure he looked ridiculous but at this point he didn't care. "You look like crap." Tony continued, "When's the last time you slept?"_

 _Steve shrugged, "A few days, I don't need as much as normal people." He added the last part as he saw Tony open his mouth to say something._

 _Tony looked around to take in his surroundings before speaking again. "How long have I been out?" he asked,_

 _"About two weeks." Steve answered honestly, "You haven't missed anything, don't worry." Tony drew his eyebrows and motioned for Steve to continue. "We've all been here." Steve admitted, "Well except for Natasha and Clint, they were called off on mission by Fury."_

 _Tony nodded in understanding, "And, um, how much do you…know?" he trailed off on the last part, his voice growing quieter._

 _Steve sighed deeply, he knew this was eventually going to rise as a topic of conversation, but he still felt unprepared. After all, what do you say to someone who was abused and neglected because of you? As if Tony knew the self-loathing thoughts crossing Steve's mind he said, "It wasn't anyone's fault, anyone other than dear old pops at least." He said the last part bitterly and without humor. Something in his tone made Steve wince, that type of tone didn't belong in the joking, childish, genius inventor._

 _Steve opened his mouth to speak, but before he could say anything he was cut off by a harsh groan emitted by the older man. Tony closed his eyes tightly as a wave of pain wracked his body, and by the time he opened them Steve's worried face was leaning over him._

 _Tony waved a hand in front of his face to drive Steve away, "I'm fine." He muttered._

 _Steve raised his eyebrows, "Right and I'm the president." He replied skeptically._

 _Tony rolled his eyes, "Seriously, Rogers, leave it."_

 _Steve sighed again, "I'm going to go get a doctor." He stood and walked to the door._

 _"Not going to help." Tony muttered to Steve's retreating back. He could tell that Steve heard him; as he paused for just a second after Tony said it, but he continued walking anyway. Steve walked out and closed the door behind him, leaving Tony alone with his pain. Five long minutes later the doctor returned to give him more pain medication, and ten minutes later he had fallen back into a deep sleep._

~End Flashback~

That had been a few days ago, and since then Tony had done nothing but wake up for a few minutes at a time; never fully lucid. When Steve had, once again, brought his concerns up to Tony's doctor he had said that perhaps Tony hadn't woken up because he didn't WANT to wake up.

This thought had stuck with Steve, and was continuously running through his brain; could Tony really choose to keep himself under? And more than that; did he want to?

Steve sighed and leaned his head further into his hand, he was tired. As his drifted off, his hand loosely lain over Tony's, he felt it twitch. He was instantly awake, "Tony?"

He received only a soft groan in response, but it was enough. He whipped out his phone, an odd touchscreen model Tony had configured for him, and sent a text to Bruce. Bruce had given Steve a stern talking down for not telling him that Tony had woken up as soon as he did. He wasn't going to make that mistake again.

Tony slowly opened his eyes and blinked rapidly to open them. "Hey." Steve said quietly.

Tony groaned again in response, "Ugh." He said finally. Steve's phone buzzed from in his pocket- a text from Bruce. _"Coming down now."_ It read.

Steve exhaled lightly, now if only he knew where Natasha and Clint had been sent to. "Here." Steve said gently as he noticed Tony struggling to sit up. He placed a gentle hand on his friend's back and helped to guide him up into a sitting position.

"Thanks." Tony mumbled.

"So," Steve started, trying to drum up a conversation, "the doctor said that when you woke up again you could be sent back home. He thinks that you've recovered enough to be released into our care."

Tony raised his eyebrows, "Your care? No thanks, I don't particularly want to be babied."

Steve sighed deeply, "Well too bad, you're going to be."

"Seriously? I think I can survive on my own." Tony snapped as her rolled his eyes.

"And I don't doubt that," Steve stated calmly, "but you're not going to."

Tony closed his eyes and sighed, "Oh my God."

"Do you know how many times we almost lost you?" Steve snapped, now growing angry. He took a deep breath to visibly calm himself before continuing, "You almost died. You actually flat lined multiple times, so yeah- you're going to be with us. Deal with it; you should be happy that people are actually caring about you for once in your life!" He took another breath, the first one not having done him any good. When he met Tony's eyes again he realized he had struck a nerve, "T-Tony-"he stammered. _"Great going Rogers!"_ he cursed himself mentally _, "Why don't you just bring all that stuff back up? It's not as if he wasn't just forced to relive every painful detail of it!"_ He tried to continue out loud, "I didn't mean that, I-"

"Yes you did." Tony stated coldly.

"Tony, I swear," Steve tried.

Tony cut him off again, "Just get out." He murmured, shaking his head. He turned to the side and shut his eyes so he wouldn't see Steve.

Steve slowly rose to his feet, hating every inch of his being, _"Goddamn it Rogers."_ He thought angrily. He walked out of the room silently, gently closing the door behind him.

Bruce chose that moment to come running down through the halls towards him. "Steve!" he gasped breathlessly. Noticing the dejected look on his friends face he asked, "What is it, what's wrong?"

Steve shook his head silently. After a moment of silence he finally spoke, "I screwed things up, Banner."

"What do you mean, what happened?" Bruce questioned rapidly.

Steve simply shook his head mutely again. "Just, please…talk to him?" he begged.

Bruce nodded, "Yeah sure, of course." Taking in Steve's appearance he softly added, "Why don't you go back home and rest? No offence, but you look like crap."

"Funny," Steve murmured quietly, "that's what he said."

~At the warehouse~

Clint POV:

A burning pain spread across my back and radiated from my spine, but that wasn't even remotely what I was worried about.

Despite the aching cold that seemed to seep from every pore on my body, my legs felt complete numb. I dimly registered Natasha stretching out her arm to help me get to my feet. I took her hand in my own and pulled, every muscle in my body straining to stand. Out of all the things that I had been through I never thought standing would be one of the hardest ones. I groaned as my arm muscles gave out and I collapsed back to the floor. The impact sent spikes of pain through my back and I groaned again.

I looked down intently at my legs; it shouldn't be this hard to move them. I felt my forehead wrinkle up as I strained to do something, anything- even just move my pinky toe. My face began to hurt due to how hard I was scrunching it in concentration.

Finally I looked up, my scared eyes meeting Natasha's worried ones. My voice betrayed how I felt, "Tash, I can't move my legs."

A/N I really, really am terribly sorry. I have about a million excuses but none of them are fit to describe why I left this abandoned for a year. Please don't hate me.


End file.
